Bt eggplant

Bangladesh is the world’s seventh-largest producer of potatoes. Most of the crop is grown by small-holder farmers.

Farmers harvest potatoes in the Chuadanga District of Bangladesh. Photo by Md.Arif Hossain

Akhter Hossain, a 46-year-old married father of three in the Chuadanga District, is one of them. He estimates that about 40 percent of the farmers in his area are engaged in potato cultivation, along with growing other cash crops.

The cultivation of genetically engineered (GMO) crops hit record levels in 2016, with 18 million farmers planting 185.1 million hectares of biotech crops globally, making it the fastest adopted crop technology in recent times, according to a new report.

The cultivation of genetically engineered (GE) crops has hit a new global peak, resulting in significant economic and environmental benefits, according to a report from the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri‐biotech Applications (ISAAA). Nearly 90 percent of the crops were grown by small-holder farmers, and developing nations planted 56 percent of the total.

Though agricultural biotechnology has suffered some legal setbacks in the Philippines, the regulatory process is now moving forward, and commercialization of the pest-resistant Bt talong (also known as brinjal, or eggplant) seems likely.